Beginners' Training Course in Dry Stone Walling at South Mains - 18th & 19th September, 2021
September saw us back at South Mains for our 4th course of the season. Once more we had 6 trainees, 2 women and 4 men, which has been the norm so far this year. Malcolm Collins took on the role of instructor and as always our hosts Kirsty and Daan provided excellent hospitality. Saturday was a glorious day and while Sunday wasn’t quite so hot, it provided excellent working conditions.
The length of the wall had to be curtailed because of a large tree root, which had found its way under the old wall. While Malcolm valiantly spent some time trying to dig it out, in between keeping an eye on the trainees it wasn’t possible to remove enough of the root to build on that piece of ground. The trainees did however manage to build at least 6 metres of wall.
As previously there were lots of positive comments about the day. One group member articulated a few of these in an email:
The owners of the farm were exceptionally friendly and the food, tea, coffee whilst much needed was totally unexpected and delicious. Malcolm was brilliant, always having time to spend answering our questions and queries and encouraged us whenever we were flagging. The members …..taking time out to meet us and offer advice was a lovely touch. The other beginners were all keen and full of energy to complete the task and all seemed to have a love of walling.
Taking down the old wall.
Early stages of Sunday’s build.
Nearly time for the strings to go up.
A well packed wall.
Progress on the 2nd lift.
Valiant effort by Malcolm to remove the deeply embedded tree roots.
Dorothy lends a hand.
More wall will need to be removed to get the remaining root out.
Final touches to the wall before the copes are set n place.
Final wall glistens in the late afternoon sun.
Cracker checks if the wall is strong enough!
All smiles at the end of the day.